Those were the words Mayor Tommy Battle used Friday to describe how Huntsville fared in the final round of the billion-dollar Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program.

The ATRIP committee - headed by state Department of Transportation Director John Cooper - awarded the Rocket City $33 million to four-lane Zierdt Road west of Redstone Arsenal and widen a 2.3-mile stretch of Winchester Road west of the Flint River

Madison County, meanwhile, got $22.85 million to improve Winchester Road in the growing Riverton community and five-lane Jeff Road through the Monrovia Elementary and Monrovia Middle school zones.

The City of Madison will receive $18.57 million from ATRIP to expand U.S. 72 West between Balch and Hughes roads - a distance of 1.6 miles - and create a new industrial-commercial corridor paralleling Interstate 565 between Wall-Triana Highway and Zierdt Road.

View full sizeThis map shows the six Madison County road projects awarded a total of $50 million through the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program. Projects in the Huntsville city limits are shown in orange, Madison city limits in blue and Madison County in green. (Courtesy Alabama Department of Transportation)

Madison Mayor Troy Trulock called Friday's announcement by Cooper an "amazing day" and "huge win" for Madison County, whose $50 million road construction total led the state.

County Commission Chairman Dale Strong called the Kellner Road extension south of I-565 "something that will create (tax) dollars for every school system in Madison County."

While Battle thanked the ATRIP committee for doing "yeoman's work" in assessing and funding more than 1,100 road projects statewide, he said Huntsville's larger state routes - particularly Memorial Parkway, Interstate 565 and the proposed Northern Bypass - cannot be forgotten.

"They didn't fit into the ATRIP plan," said Battle, "but are roads that are going to be of necessity for us in the future."

"There are some talks that need to be had about major arterial roads that will help move traffic," said Battle. "The highway director has said we'll get together in the near future. The governor has said that, too."